Abstract :
Titanium oxide thin films on glass and silicon wafer substrates were prepared by the sol-gel
process. The pH variation and the calcination effect on the optical and structural properties
of the films were systematically examined. The coated films were characterized by
atomic-force microscopy (AFM), NKD analyzer, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cyclic
voltammograms (CV). The influence of calcination and pH value on the spectra of
transmittance, reflectance, and refractive indices and on the surface structure has been
investigated. From X-ray diffractometric measurements (XRD), it has been confirmed that
the films are an anatase form. The effects of pH and surface modification of titanium oxide
were studied with AFM images. These showed that the surface texture was changed
dramatically according to calcinations and pH variation. Spectral dependencies of refractive
indices (n) were determined for all films. Band-gap energy (Eg) was also estimated for these
films. C 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.
